The smartphone market has changed drastically in the past couple of years. From focusing on brighter displays, bigger and better cameras and a bigger battery life to focusing on-device AI and AI-based camera features, the market has evolved significantly in the past couple of years. This change in demand has not only intensified the competition in the smartphone market in India but it has also driven up the device prices in the country. At a time when most smartphone companies are focusing on packing their smartphones with top-class hardware and AI-powered features and global experiences to Indian buyers, HMD Global and its brand Nokia are doing something different - they are introducing features and experiences that are central to masses in India.Ravi Kunwar, CEO and Vice President - India and APAC, HMD (HT)Shweta Ganjoo is a Chief Content Producer at HT Tech. She has over 10 years of experience covering technology, during which time she has focused on consumer tech devices, AI, social media, gadgets, and tech policy, delivering authoritative and reader-focused insights across India’s fast-evolving digital ecosystem. She began her career in the early 2010s, building a strong foundation in digital-first reporting as India’s tech landscape rapidly expanded. Over the years, she has worked with leading media organizations including India Today Tech, Indian Express Group, and Techlusive, where she played a key role in scaling editorial content and audience engagement. At HT Tech, she drives product recommendation coverage, combining newsroom leadership with hands-on reporting experience. Her expertise spans smartphones, wearables, smart home devices, AI, and social media ecosystems, along with regulatory developments shaping the tech industry. Shweta is known for her analytical approach to product reviews and news coverage, grounded in hands-on testing and real-world usability. She has conducted industry interviews, tracked emerging tech trends, and produced research-backed stories using verified sources and expert inputs. She holds a masters in Mass Communication, which complements her professional experience in digital journalism and content strategy, and aligns with her academic background in technology. Shweta follows a reader-first editorial philosophy, prioritising accuracy, transparency, and fact-checked reporting to deliver reliable, insightful, and practical insights.Read moreRead lessFor instance, HMD debuted Sarvam AI in its smartphones with the launch of the HMD Vibe 2 5G in May this year. This smartphone also became the first smartphone in the country to come with Department of Telecom's Sanchar Saathi app.For the unversed, DoT says that its Sanchar Saathi app aims to help citizens to track and manage mobile connections issued in their name, disconnect unnecessary connections, trace lost phones, and verify the authenticity of devices when purchasing new or used ones. On the other hand, Sarvam AI is a company that builds foundational AI models and conversational agents that are tailored to Indian languages. It offers speech-to-text, text-to-speech, translation, and document-digitization APIs across more than 20 regional languages. On HMD Vibe 2 5G, it brings multilingual experiences across 22 Indian languages.In addition to bringing native experiences to budget buyers, HMD is focusing on feature phones and 4G phones alongside budget 5G phones at a time when 5G smartphones have become omnipresent and feature-packed smartphones are becoming steadily expensive and out of reach for a lot buyers. This approach of 'going back to the basics' might seem counterintuitive to a lot of people, especially in light of how cut-throat the Indian smartphone market it, but it the one that has helped the company capture a sizable portion of the India smartphone market.In fact, as per IDC's Q1 report, HMD India captured the number 1 position in India's combined feature phone market. HMD Global's Nokia and HMD portfolios combined capture 47.2% of market share by value and 32.7% of the market share by volume.To understand the thought process behind this strategy, we sat down for a conversation with Ravi Kunwar, CEO and VP - India and APAC, HMD Global. During our conversation he said instead of focusing on cameras, screens and processor and other hardware-related features, HMD's approach is to focus on bringing more meaningful experiences to Indian users."...there were two clear distinct innovations which we brought with HMD Vibe 2 5G. The first one was the integration of Sarvam AI. So that's the sovereign AI platform, which for the very first time is integrated only on HMD smartphones. And that immediately gave access to the vast majority of Indian consumers who want to talk in their own language...The Second one was the Sanchar Saathi app, which was in partnership with DOT," Kunwar told HT Tech."So our old philosophy is to pack the best of the hardware features, specs, but go beyond that, make meaningful innovations like the ones which I have told. And I think that's something which is clicking with the consumers," he added. He also said that he expects the 4G smartphone and feature phone categories to grow in India in the coming two to three years.About HMD's future plansDuring our conversation, we also touched up topic of HMD's future plans in India both in terms of features and experiences and devices. While the HMD India CEO didn't reveal the exact plans, he did say that the company would make new announcements in the next three to four months leading up to Diwali. "Now, as far as smartphone is concerned, I mentioned, expect a few launches before the festive season, which could be both in the 4G and the 5G space. So the whole affordable segment, we'll see a lot of action. from our side. And this is one opportunity area which HMD will definitely focus on ," Kunwar told us.As far as the experiences side of things are concerned, HMD plans to increase its focus on local languages. The company introduced this experience in its smartphones with the integration of Sarvam AI in the HMD Vibe 2 5G. In the coming days, rather months, more HMD and Nokia branded phones are expected to get this functionality. In addition to this real-time language translation is another experience that the company is planning to introduce in its smartphones."Then there are a lot of personalized experiences which every individual has. Now, over a period of time, in terms of notification, device settings, how does the whole workflow manage? That whole personalization would be kind of led by AI. Now, these are areas which I think HMD is kind of working on because at the end of the day, the future roadmap looks like that it is not led by the device or the apps which are sitting on the phone, but it will be more around the whole AI experience driving multiple apps on the phone. So that's the thought on which we are working from a future perspective," Kunwar told HT Tech.Interestingly enough, while HMD is focused on feature phones, 4G phones and budget 5G phones at the moment, it does have plans to go beyond the budget smartphone segment in the coming days. However, the HMD India CEO tells us that those plans will have to wait for now and that launching smartphones beyond the budget segment will happen "as we move beyond 2026".About HMD increasing prices of smartphonesBeyond the future plans and new experiences, we asked the HMD India CEO a question that's been there on everyone's mind for long: will HMD and Nokia-branded phones get costlier in India due to global chip shortages and ongoing geopolitical situations? His answer was a polite yes. In conversation with HT Tech, Kunwar said that 'price rise is inevitable' be it smartphone or even feature phones. However, he also assured us that his company was trying to pass on the minimum impact to the consumers."So we are trying to improve our efficiency, to pass on the minimum as far as consumers are concerned. But this is a reality which we will have to face, as I said, for next 12 to 18 months. So whether it happens on a quarterly basis or every 6 months, but before it stabilises, 12 months is going to be volatile in terms of pricing as far as smartphone is concerned in India," he told HT Tech.